Runaway Hilary
by ducky76
Summary: Sequel to Another Sad Love Song. Now that Tyson is gone Hilary is left alone to deal with new problems that have arisen. Or is she? Will a good friend be able to help her out in her time of need? This is not a KaiHil fic. just friends. discontinued...
1. It's Been 2 Months

Here it is! The sequel to "Another Sad Love Song." Now that Tyson is gone Hilary is left alone to deal with new problems that have arisen. Or is she? Will a good friend be able to help her out in her time of need? This is not a KaiHil fic. They're just friends in this one. 

Read and review if you want the next chapter. I'm gonna try to update "Champ of Broken Promises" next.  
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"It's been two months Tyson," Hilary whispered with tears streaming down her face as she knelt in front of the tombstone of her deceased lover. It was the anniversary of his death, and for the first time since his funeral she was finally able to bring herself to the site of his grave. "I miss you so much. Things just haven't been the same without you. Yea, I know it's a little cliché, but it's true. You're gone and nothing is the same, at least not in my life anyway. I wish I could tell you how the guys were doing, but, truth be told, I actually haven't seen the guys in quite a while. I guess I've kind of been avoiding them." She took in a deep breath and sighed. Her breath could be seen in the cold autumn air. It had become cold rather quickly this year, as cold as Hilary felt her heart had become. She felt it was frozen without Tyson there to warm it for her.

"There's just too many memories of you there," Hilary explained. "It's like when I see Ray, I can't help but be reminded of how great of a friend you are. When I look at Max, all I see is your big goofy smile that I miss so much. And seeing Kai makes me think of how intense you were about beyblading. You were so passionate when Dragoon was spinning in the dish. But then again you were passionate about everything."

She smirked slightly at that last comment and let out a dry, empty laugh. "You certainly were passionate when you had me," she said softly. "Every time I think about you, I think about that night. I can still smell the scent of you as you were closer to me than you ever had been before. I can still feel your hands on my body and running through my hair. I swear I can still feel that sensation as you kissed my neck and breathed on my skin. Oh God, Tyson, that night was so amazing, and together what we created is amazing."

She shivered as a chill went up her spine and rubbed her arms to warm them a bit. As she stopped, she rested one arm on her stomach and looked at it for a bit, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Tyson, I don't want you to think that I regret it," she sobbed. "Because I don't. I could never regret it. It's incredible, and we did it together. It's just…" She nearly choked on a sob she'd been trying to suppress, but she caught her breath after a moment. "It's just that I'm too young for this. I don't think I can do this by myself. And the worst thing is, I can't even tell my parents and ask them for help. They would hate me. Tyson I don't know what to do!" Hilary buried her face in her arms as she folded them over the top of the tombstone. She kept on crying there until she felt a hand rubbing up and down her back.

Hilary looked up to see Kai kneeling beside her with no expression on his face, though it was obvious that he was trying to comfort her. "K-kai?" Hilary stuttered.

"Are you alright?" the older boy asked sincerely, worry shining in his crimson eyes.

"I don't know," Hilary whispered as she broke away from Kai's entrancing gaze. "How long have you been here?" Kai just stared at her solemnly with no reply. Hilary looked back at him as she wiped the tears from her face. "How much did you hear?" she asked.

"Enough," Kai said shortly. Hilary gulped and avoided his eyes, and there was an awkward silence until Kai spoke up again. "When did you find out?"

"A month ago," Hilary replied, knowing what he meant. Tears once again welled up in her eyes, threatening to fall.

Kai nodded without saying a word and pulled her into a warm hug, allowing her to cry on his shoulder. Her sobs became louder and louder and she threw her arms around his neck. Kai continued to rub her back comfortingly with one hand as the other ran his fingers through her hair. "Sh," he whispered. "It's ok Hilary. It's ok. I'm here."

"Why did Tyson have to go?!" Hilary cried. "He's gone, and now I'm all alone to deal with this. I don't think I can handle it."

"You aren't alone Hilary," Kai told her.

"Yes I am," she replied uneasily. "I can't ever let my parents find out. They'll kill me. They won't understand why I did what I did."

"I understand," Kai said. "I'm here for you Hilary. You aren't alone."

"What am I going to do Kai?" Hilary sobbed. "W-what am I going to d-do without Tyson?"

"Sh," Kai hushed her again as he pulled her closer. "We'll figure it out. Ok? I'll help you figure this all out Hilary. It'll all be ok. You hear me?" He pulled Hilary's face up to look at him. "Everything will be fine?"

Hilary nodded feebly at Kai before burying herself in his arms again. Kai rested his chin on top of her head as she continued to cry. He stared at the tombstone of his teammate sadly. He'd come here on the two-month anniversary of his death to pay his respects. He hadn't expected to find Hilary like this.

As he stared at the grave, he remembered that night that Ray had come walking home through the rain. The look on the neko-jin's face had given Kai the most foreboding feeling as he'd approached him.

--Flashback--  
"Kai! Kenny!" Max's voice shouted their names throughout the house. "Guys come down to the living room for a minute!"

Kai rolled his eyes as he heard his friend's voice. He was in the bedroom staring out of the window at the pouring rain, keeping watch for any sign of Tyson. He was seriously starting to worry about his younger teammate. It wasn't exactly nice weather to be stuck in outside. Obviously Ray had seen that since he came back. Kai had seen him walk home in the rain through the window.

"Kai!" Max called again, more urgently this second time. Kai sighed as he pushed himself away from the wall that his shoulder was leaned up against and unfolded his arms. He walked down the hall to the living room where everyone else was. Max was draping a dry towel over Ray's shoulders, and Ray muttered a dispirited 'thank you.' He looked so scared of something, though Kai couldn't figure out what.

"Did you see Tyson at all?" Kai asked Ray.

Ray barely gave a nod and didn't speak as he stared at the ground with an unfocused look on his face. "Where is he?" Max asked curiously, unaware that something was very wrong. Max always had been naïve like that.

"He's gone to Hilary's house," Ray said softly. His voice sounded weak and barely audible. "He had to talk to her, but he asked me to talk to all of you about it."

"About what?" Max asked confusedly.

Tears began to well up in Ray's eyes, though none of the others could see them. Silent sobs began to rack his body and turned into a coughing fit. Max knelt in front of him and patted his back gently. "You ok buddy?" he asked.

"I'll go get a glass of water," Kenny said as he ran off to the kitchen.

When his coughing began to subside, Ray shivered and rubbed his arms, but not once did his eyes leave the ground. "Ray are you alright?" Max asked again as he placed a hand on his forehead. "You're burning up! It really wasn't a good idea to be out there in the rain. You need to go lie down."

Ray bit his lip and shook his head, coughing again slightly. When Kenny returned, he pushed away the glass of water. "No thank you," he whispered.

Kai stared at Ray oddly. "What did Tyson ask you to talk to us about?" he asked.

"For the past two months," Ray said, "Tyson… Tyson's known about it… and he never t-told any of us…"

"Never told us what?" Max asked.

When Ray didn't answer, Kai spoke up again. "Never told us what, Ray?" he asked sharply.

Ray finally brought his eyes up to look at Kai's face with tears streaming down his cheeks. "He's sick Kai," he choked out. "Really sick."

Silence fell over them all as what Ray had said sunk in. "What's wrong with him?" Max finally asked fearfully.

Ray took in a deep breath and shook his head before looking at the floor again. "I… I…" he mumbled.

Kai walked over to Ray and put a hand on his shoulder, letting him know he was there. "Just say it Ray," he told him calmly.

"A brain tumor," Ray said shortly before going into another coughing fit.

Max and Kenny both looked at each other with sorrowful looks. Kai just looked at Ray blankly as the shock began to set in.  
After Ray had cried himself all out he fell asleep and Kai carried him to the bedroom. He watched over him worriedly for a bit, trying to keep his mind off of Tyson, his greater worry. Kai tended to his raven-haired teammate throughout the night as he coughed and mumbled in his feverish sleep. Max and Kenny just sat in the living room quietly with tears rolling down their cheeks until they too fell asleep. Kai eventually fell asleep at Ray's bedside late at night.

In the morning, Kai woke up to the sound of the doorbell ringing. He opened his eyes and looked around to find his head resting on his arms, which were folded on Ray's bed. He looked at Ray to see that his cheeks were still scarlet with fever. Kai brushed a few strands of hair out of his sleeping friend's face and stood up. Ray was obviously very ill, and Kai hoped it wouldn't get too bad. If it got any worse then it was, Kai feared that they would have to take Ray to the hospital.  
He walked to the entrance to open the door, only to find that Max had already opened it for the visitors. Kai was shocked to see two cops standing there in front of Max. "Is Mr. Granger around?" one of them asked.

Max shrugged. "I don't know where he is," he told them.

"He was out in the woods doing some kendo training all night," Kai said. "Knowing the old man, I would assume that he's still out there doing just that. Is something going on?" he added with slight confusion.

"Well we just came over here from the house of a friend of you boys," the other officer said. "Hilary I believe her name was?"

"Is she alright?" Max asked.

The officer shook his head sadly. "She's doing the best that can be expected in the situation," he said. "Your friend Tyson Granger stayed at her house last night." Kai's eyes widened with fear as he remembered exactly what was going in with his friend. "He passed away in his sleep last night."

Kai leaned on the wall next to him as he felt himself becoming weak. Max just stood there for a few minutes with tears building up in his eyes. "That's not true!" he shouted at them. "Tyson's fine!"

"Max," Kai started.

"Tell them it's not true Kai!" Max exclaimed. "Tell them they're wrong!"

Kai faltered as he saw the pleading look in Max's eyes. "Max, I…"

"You're all liars!" Max yelled as he ran to the bathroom and locked himself in.

--End Flashback--

Max had stayed in that bathroom for a long time without talking to anyone. Once Hilary had come over, he'd finally come out, only to cry on her shoulder and continue to say that it was all a lie, a bad dream. No one ever actually had been able to convince him to realize that it was real.

Ray had ended up with a bad case of pneumonia from being in the rain that night and got himself landed in the hospital for a week. Mariah came to Japan to help make sure he got better, since she seemed to fancy herself to be everyone's mother, including her boyfriend's. Ray hadn't even been able to go to Tyson's funeral, but as soon as he'd gotten out, she'd taken him to the graveyard to say goodbye to Tyson.

Kai sighed as he pulled away from Hilary. "Come on," he said to her. "Let's get going to the dojo. We can talk back there." Hilary nodded and they both stood. Kai took one last glance at the tombstone and set his hand on top of it. "I'll talk to you later Tyson," he said. "Bye."

He and Hilary both walked back to the dojo in awkward silence for a bit. Hilary finally decided to speak up, curious about how things were going. "How are the guys doing?" she asked him.

Kai shook his head. "Max, well, he isn't so good," he said sadly. "Kenny's been absorbing himself in Dizzi more than usual, and he hangs around the dojo a lot less. I guess Ray's doing ok since he's got Mariah there to help him deal with it, but every once in a while I catch him digging through that box of all of Tyson's old belongings."

Hilary looked up at Kai's face to see how sad he looked. "And you Kai?" she asked. "How are you doing?"

"I'm ok," Kai said.

"That's a lie," Hilary said simply. "You don't look fine Kai. How are you really?"

Kai smirked and shook his head. "I miss him," Kai admitted. "Not much else to tell." He saw the dojo coming into view down at the end of the road they were walking on. "They've all missed you too." Then he corrected himself. "We've all missed you."

"I'm sorry," Hilary apologized guiltily. "It's just been really hard to be around you guys. It reminds me of what's missing too much." She sighed and put on a fake smile. "Maybe I'll come around more often."

"There won't really be a need for that any longer," Kai said as they stopped in front of the door to the dojo. "Next week, we're all moving back to our own homes."

"What?" Hilary asked. "Why?"

Kai put his hand on the doorknob. "Tyson's gone," Kai explained. "The Bladebreakers aren't really a team anymore. There's no reason to stay here. We're all going back to our own homes to move on with our lives." With that said he opened the door and gestured for Hilary to enter before him.

Once inside Hilary was instantly spotted by Mariah as she walked past the entrance room. "Hilary?!" the pink-haired girl exclaimed excitedly. "Oh my gosh! Ray! Hilary's here!" She ran over and flung her arms around Hilary's neck in a welcoming hug. "How are you doing Hilary?"

Hilary smiled softly. "I'm ok, thank you," she said politely. "How have you been?"

"I've been doing good," Mariah said just as Ray walked into the room.

"Hi Ray," Hilary said when she spotted him.

Mariah released Hilary from her grasp and took as step back. Ray approached Hilary uneasily and smiled at her. "How's it going Hil?" he asked as he awkwardly went to hug her.

Hilary threw her arms around him in a warm embrace. "I'm ok Ray," she said. "I've missed you so much."

Feeling more comfortable, Ray tightened his arms around her and leaned his head on top of hers. "I've missed you too."

After a couple of minutes Hilary pulled away and looked at Ray's face. "So where's Maxie?" she asked.

Ray sighed and led her and the others to the kitchen, where Max was sitting in a chair in front of the sliding glass door, staring out at the backyard as if he was waiting for something. "He just sits there and stares out of the window for most of the day," Ray said sadly. "It's like he's just waiting for Tyson to come home. He doesn't eat much at all. He won't talk to anyone but his mother, and even when he's on the phone with her he barely speaks. At first we thought keeping him here with the rest of the team for a bit might help him get better, but we all finally decided it would be best for him to go home with Judy when she comes to visit next week."

Hilary nodded grimly as she walked over and knelt beside Max's seat. She stared at him for a moment before holding both of his hands in her own. "Hey Maxie," she said softly. "I missed you." Max looked down at Hilary's face and sighed. Hilary smiled at him and squeezed his hand. "How are you doing?" she asked. "I know things must be getting pretty tough on you."

When Max looked back out of the window, Hilary followed his gaze. "Waiting for Tyson to come home, huh?" she inquired, taking in a deep breath with tears forming in her eyes. "I've been doing that a lot, too, lately. I keep expecting him to come back to me, and every time I realize that he isn't going to, all I want to do is cry. I need him here now more than ever, and he's gone. I miss him so much Maxie."

Hilary looked at her hand when she felt something hit it. There was a drop of water on her hand, and she looked up at Max to find its source. Max was squeezing his eyes shut to control the tears threatening to fall from them. Hilary placed her hand on his cheek in a comforting gesture, and he looked at her with those big sad blue eyes that could break even the hardest heart at that moment. "It's going to be ok Maxie," she whispered. "You'll get better. It'll hurt a little less with time. I promise."

"I want it to hurt a lot less," Max said as he tilted his head down and closed his eyes again.

Hilary stood up and pulled him into a big hug. "So do I Maxie," she agreed. "So do I."

Ray, Kai, and Mariah watched the two in shock. Max had actually spoken to Hilary. None of them had been able to get him to do that for 2 months. Kai smirked. "It figures," he said. "The one person who wasn't around…" He sighed and shook his head in amusement, though he kept his eye on Hilary worriedly.

After a bit Hilary and Max separated and everyone sat down around the kitchen table to talk, since they hadn't seen Hilary in quite a while. "So why are you here Hilary?" Ray asked. "Don't get me wrong. I'm really glad to see you. I'm just curious as to why it's taken you so long to come back here again."

"To be honest," Hilary said, "I really didn't plan on coming here today. I was at his grave, since it's the two-month anniversary, and I ran into Kai."

"I told her to come back here with me," Kai continued.

"I missed you all so much," Hilary said. "Kai told me that you're all moving back to your homes next week."

Ray sighed. "There's nothing left for us here," he explained. "There's no sense in staying when all this place means for us is bad memories. I guess Tyson was just the glue that held the Bladebreakers together, and without him around we've all just fallen apart." Max looked down sadly at the table where he was twiddling his thumbs.

"I'm going to miss all of you," Hilary said. "You guys promise you'll keep in touch?"

"We won't need to," Kai said.

"What do you mean?" Hilary asked curiously.

"I figured out a solution for your problem," Kai told her. "At least it's a temporary solution. You don't want your parents to find out about your secret right?"

Hilary nodded in confusion. "But how can you fix that?"

Kai smirked. "Come with me," he said. "Run away to Russia."

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Yes, yes. I know. I have a thing for Hilary running away to Russia with Kai after Tyson's death. Oh well. It makes for a good storyline. But this one is just about their friendship.


	2. Russia

Believe it or not, I have actually updated another of my stories. I think the next chapter of _Champ of Broken Promises_is up next, but it may be _Origins of the Bitbeasts_or _Max's Story_, so don't hold me to it. I'm typing all three of them at once as inspiration comes to me, so whichever is done first will be updated first and it seems that _Champ_ is in the lead. Read and Review!

* * *

"Thank you," Hilary said gratefully as the Kai set her bags down in her room, a guest room in his mansion. She'd offered to carry them herself, but he had reminded her that it wasn't good for the baby. He'd also said that she, having thrown up on the plane, obviously couldn't handle it as well as her morning sickness. Kai had been extremely generous to her. He'd helped her get away unnoticed and given her a place to stay, all in enough time for them both to leave on the same day that the Bladebreakers' departures were originally planned. Of course, saying goodbye to the others, especially Max in his terrible state, had been quite difficult, but Kai had even made that easier by offering to accommodate all of them whenever they felt like visiting. "You're house is amazing…" 

Kai shrugged his shoulders. "It's alright," he said. "Kind of lonely."

"Hmm…" Hilary muttered distractedly as she went to unpack one of her bags. "Yea, I guess it would be…"

Kai looked at her sadly. "Why don't you worry about that later? It's not every day that you get to spend your first day as a runaway in Russia."

"No, it's not," Hilary agreed, though she kept to her bag. "I wonder what my parents will do when they realize that I'm gone."

"I'm sure they'll be extremely worried," Kai told her truthfully. "But you can talk to them when you're ready to tell them about the baby. Until then my mansion is at your disposal."

"I can't thank you enough Kai," she said, meaning every word of it.

"You don't need to Hilary," Kai replied. "You and Tyson were both great friends to me, and I owe so much to both of you, especially Tyson. That kid never gave up on me, and now that he's gone it's the least I can do to pass on the favor. I want to help you Hilary."

As Kai talked, Hilary found a picture of the Bladebreakers in the bag she was unpacking. She traced everyone's faces with her fingers sadly. _Tyson…_

Kai sighed. "It's only a bit unfair that he can't take care of it himself though, isn't it?"

"Right," Hilary said in a distracted sort of voice as she set down the picture and turned around to face Kai. "Now what is it that you would have me do on my first day in Russia? Is there any sight-seeing to be done?"

"Actually, I know I probably made it sound that way," Kai said, "but I had something else planned?"

"Hm?" Hilary replied as she tilted her head slightly to the side.

"I made an appointment at the hospital for you," Kai told her. "I assumed that you haven't had any check-ups yet since you can't really go on your own."

"You what?" Hilary asked, slightly in shock.

"I'm sorry," Kai said. "I know it's probably just your business but you need to think about the baby and all. I figured that I can offer you the best health care you can get over here and-"

"No, I'm not upset," Hilary said with tears filling her eyes. "It's just that… I mean, you're even paying for health care?"

Kai scratched the back of his head nervously. "Well, yea… I have the money to spare and I want to help take care of you-"

Hilary threw her arms around his shoulders, throwing him slightly off-guard. "Thank you," she whispered as she cried softly. "Thank you so much."

"Don't worry about it Hilary," Kai told her as he held her at arms length. "I just want to make sure that you and the baby get the very best you can."

Hilary smiled softly. "Still… thank you Kai."

Kai smiled back. "You're welcome. Now let's get going."

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Hilary tapped her fingers nervously on the arm of the chair. She and Kai were sitting in the waiting room of the hospital, and she was extremely anxious about her first check-up. "Calm down," Kai told her. "It's nothing to worry about."

"Easy for you to say," Hilary replied. "You aren't the one with the baby growing inside you!"

"Thank God for that," Kai joked. "Just relax Hilary. It won't be so bad. Just think of it like a normal doctor's appointment. You'll be fine."

"You don't know that!" Hilary insisted.

Kai smirked and rolled his eyes at Hilary's anxiety. She suddenly looked at him as though a thought had just struck her. "Kai… Do you…" She sighed.

"What?" Kai asked her.

"It's nothing," Hilary said dismissively. "Just that… I was wondering… Do you think they'll show me the baby today?"

Kai blinked. "Show you… the baby? What do you mean?"

"I think it's called aultrasound or something," Hilary said.

Kai paled at the thought of being asked actual questions pertaining to the procedures of her pregnancy. "Um…" he fumbled nervously. "I'm not really sure."

Hilary sighed again, only this time it was with frustration. "No offense Kai, but I think I need to talk to a girl about all of this stuff."

Kai laughed slightly at her. This was really the first time he'd seen her having mood swings. _She is definitely pregnant; that's for sure…_

"What are you laughing-"

Hilary was cut off by her name being called. "Hilary Tatibana?"

Hilary's eyes widened and she looked up fearfully. Kai just shook his head at her and looked towards the nurse. "That's us," he said as he pulled Hilary up.

"This way," the nurse said as she led them down a hallway. She turned and looked at Hilary. "Your first visit?" she asked.

Hilary nodded her head feebly, and the nurse smiled. "I bet you're nervous about this whole pregnancy," she said as she opened the door to an examination room. Hilary and Kai went in after her. "The best advice I can give you is 'relax and enjoy it.'"

"I wish I could enjoy it a little later in life," Hilary muttered to herself.

The nurse raised an eyebrow at her. "Well aren't you the one who decided to have sex so soon?" she replied. "You could have waited."

"What do you know?" Hilary muttered inaudibly.

The nurse hadn't heard her and just continued on talking. "It's not that bad. At least the father stuck around."

Kai's eyes grew to a size Hilary wouldn't have imagined on him and a blush crept over his cheeks. "What!" he sputtered. "Me? No, I'm not the father! We've never… I've never even… I mean…"

Hilary inwardly smiled at the sight of Kai's embarrassment, but in the back of her mind she pondered over what he'd just said. Kai Hiwatari was a virgin.

"Why are you here if you aren't the father?" the nurse asked.

"I'm her friend," Kai said. "I wanted to be here for her."

"Well where is the father, then?" the nurse questioned.

Hilary suddenly looked up at her on the verge of tears again. "He…"

"He couldn't make it," Kai answered for her.

Hilary shook her head. "He's dead..." she whispered.

"Oh," the nurse gasped. "I'm very sorry." She looked between the two somber teenagers sadly. "Perhaps we should start the checkup."

Hilary nodded and sat on the examination bench while Kai took a seat in a chair against the wall. The nurse began asking Hilary questions about her medical history as well as what she knew of the father's, and Hilary answered the best that she could. Then the nurse began the checkup.

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For most of the way back to the mansion, Kai and Hilary sat in silence, until Hilary finally broke it. "Kai?" she said softly.

"Yea?" Kai looked at her inquiringly.

"Thank you."

"You already thanked me many times," Kai told her.

"Well, yes I did," Hilary replied. "But now I'm thanking you for sitting through that with me. Everything you're doing… It really means a lot to me."

"I'm glad it helps," Kai answered. "I'm just sorry Tyson couldn't have done it though."

"Hm…"

An awkward silence came over them. Hilary wondered if she should even bother asking Kai about what he'd said back at the hospital. "Kai?"

"Yea?"

"About what you said back there…" She trailed off. "Actually… never mind."

"What is it?" Kai asked.

"No," Hilary said. "It's too personal."

"Just say it."

"Well, when the nurse thought you were the father," Hilary said hesitantly, "you said that you've never. Didn't you mean-"

"I have never," Kai replied quickly.

"Oh…"

"Does it matter?" Kai asked her.

"No not really," Hilary said. "I guess I'm just a bit nosy. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it."

The car stopped and the chauffer opened the door of the limo for them. They both went back into the house, where Kai told Hilary he'd see her at dinner.

"Where are you going?" she asked curiously.

"I just have to make some calls to everyone else to see that they all made it back ok," he said. "Their planes were arriving after ours since they had to fly commercial. There's always an advantage to having a private plane."

"Yea," Hilary giggled. "Actually, I want to call Max up to see that he's ok. Maybe now that he's back with Judy he'll recover faster."

"The line in your bedroom is different from the one in my library," Kai told her, "so that should be fine."

"Ok." Hilary made her way to the room and found a phone on a nightstand beside her bed. She picked it up and dialed Judy Tate's phone number.

"Hello?"

"Hi Mrs. Tate," Hilary said. "It's Hilary."

"Hello Hilary! What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering how Max is doing," Hilary told her.

"Oh." Judy's cheerful tone had dropped from her voice. "I suppose he's doing alright, probably about the same as before. He just can't seem to take Tyson's death very well."

"I don't think any of us can," Hilary replied. "Poor Max. He just seems so empty now."

"Don't worry." Judy was now using completely false cheerfulness. "He'll get better with time! I know he will!"

"May I speak to him?" Hilary asked hesitantly.

"If you want to," Judy told her. "I'm not so sure he'll do much talking back."

"That's ok. I just want to say hi."

"Alright, then. Bye Hilary."

Hilary heard Judy call Max's name, but it wasn't until a few moments later that Max actually answered the phone. His voice was so soft that he might as well have just breathed into it.

"Max is that you?" Hilary asked. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," Max replied in that same soft voice.

"Was your flight ok?"

"Mm hm."

Hilary sighed. "I miss you Max. I hope you have a good time in America. You can come and visit Kai and me any time."

Something suddenly seemed to catch Max's interest, because he asked softly, "Why did you have to go with Kai?"

Hilary remembered that she had never told any of the others about her pregnancy. None of them had wanted to intrude so much as to ask until then. "I have a problem that I can't deal with at home," she answered cautiously.

"You aren't sick too are you?" Even through the soft volume of it, his voice sounded cracked.

"Max, are you crying?" Hilary asked.

"Hilary I don't want you to die to!" Max said rather loudly.

"Max, I'm not sick or dying," she assured him, shocked by the outburst. "What ever gave you that idea?"

"Tyson was keeping a secret from all of us too… and he died…"

"Well that isn't what's wrong."

"Then what is wrong?" His voice was softer again, but he still sounded upset.

Hilary sighed. "Tyson and I… We had sex the night he died… We didn't use protection… and I'm scared Max…"

"You're pregnant!" Again, Max shocked her with his outburst. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," Hilary said. "Kai's helping me out a lot. I had to run away because my parents can't find out yet."

"Is that… is that why you didn't come see us for so long?"

"I guess that it's part of the reason," Hilary said honestly. "Mostly, I just couldn't see you guys without wanting to cry."

"I cry so much Hil," Max whispered. "I can't stand it." After a pause he spoke again. "When my mom lets me, I'm going to come see you in Russia. I promise."

"That would mean a lot to me," Hilary replied gratefully.

"Everything will be alright."

"I know it will. Do you?"

Max was silent. "I hope it will," he said softly. "Goodbye Hilary."

"I'll talk to you later Max." She hung up the phone and lay down, stretched out on her back, a bit fatigued from her long day. She hated how she constantly felt tired. She looked at her stomach, which she was happy to see still hadn't seemed to grown any, even though something else had. Patting her stomach, she said to it, "The only thing good coming out of you so far is my big boobs."

Giggling softly at her joke, she closed her eyes with the intentions of taking a nap, only to be interrupted by a knock at the door. "Come in," she said.

The door opened, revealing Kai, and he walked just past the entrance. "I have some good news for you," he said.

Hilary opened her eyes and sat up. "What's that?" she asked.

"Ray and Mariah missed their flight today," he told her. "So we made a couple of calls to their parents, and I hooked them up with my plane for tomorrow. They're going to stay here for a while."

"Really!" Hilary was excited; she hadn't liked leaving all of her friends. "What made you do that?"

"You said you needed to talk to a girl," Kai said. "So now you'll have Mariah around to talk to."

"Do they know about it already?" Hilary asked him.

Kai shook his head. "I didn't tell them, if that's what you mean."

"Max does," she told him.

"I think Mariah may have figured it out and told Ray," Kai said truthfully.

"I guess they'll have to know eventually anyway."

"How's Max doing?" Kai asked curiously.

"I guess he's ok," Hilary said. "He was talking so quietly most of the time that I could barely hear him." She decided not to tell Kai about Max's fear of his other friends dying. "I think he wants to come here sometime, though."

"He knows he's welcome to," Kai said. "Come on. Let's go get dinner."


End file.
